Guns Ain't Toys
by ALonesomeAuthor
Summary: "Carl!" Daryl barked, causing the boy suddenly stop moving and stand perfectly still, staring at him with frightened eyes. "Ya wanna tell me why the hell ya got my gun?" What if Carl didn't go to Shane with Daryl's gun, but was caught with it by Daryl? How will Daryl react? Warning: Spanking. Not Slash. Oneshot. Rated T to be safe.


**A/N: Here's a little AU story about one of the times** **I think that Carl should have been spanked. I'll probably be doing several stories along this vein because I think that Carl gets away with everything. I mean come on, let's face it, Carl never had to face up to anything. Even when he gunned down the kid when the Governor attacked the Prison, he barely got so much as a verbal reprimand.**

 **Warning: Spanking of a child by a parental figure. If you don't enjoy stories like this then please read one that is more suited to you. There are plenty of stories out there folks just waiting to be read, if you don't care for mine.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead or it's characters; I'm simply borrowing them and will return them when I am finished.**

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Guns Ain't Toys

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Daryl was busy making a few more arrows from his crossbow when he saw Carl coming out of the woods. He narrowed his eyes at the sight of the kid. He shouldn't have even been in the woods in the first place, it was dangerous, even before the world had gone to hell, but even more so with Walkers roaming around. As Carl got closer Daryl could see just how pale the boy's face was, the way he was jumping at the slightest noise, and looking around as though he was worried that someone might see him. The kid was definitely up to something and that something for some reason didn't sit well with Daryl. So the man laid his arrows down on the grass at his feet and called the boy over. If it was humanly possible for Carl to get any paler than he already was, then he certainly accomplished it. Carl's face was as white as a sheet and his eyes were wide with a sudden fear. Daryl frowned at that. Sure he was kind of scary looking, being the Georgia redneck that he was, but he wasn't that scary. And besides he and the kid were on relatively decent terms.

"C'mere Carl." Daryl called again.

Carl visibly gulped and slowly made his way to Daryl, stopping a good ten feet from the man and refused to come any closer. Daryl cocked his head to the side as he surveyed the boy in front of him. Yup, something was definitely off. Maybe the boy had seen a Walker in the forest?

"What were ya doin' in the woods alone? S'dangerous in there. Yer old man wouldn't like you bein' in there by yerself." admonished Daryl quietly.

"...I know...I was just walking..." whispered Carl meekly, his eyes on his shoes.

"Can't be walkin' 'round them woods by yerself, especially with no weapons, save a knife. Ya hear me?" asked Daryl, as Carl nodded wordlessly. "Ya see something in there?"

Carl's head shot up at the question and his eyes got even wider. He hastily shook his head and said far to quickly to be believable.

"N-No! I-I didn't see anything!"

Daryl narrowed his eyes at the boy's blatant lie. He wasn't even sure why the boy was lying in the first place.

"Dammit boy, what'd ya see in there? I need to know, could threaten the group, if there's something in there." growled Daryl, his patience wearing thin.

"I didn't see anything!" Carl repeated in the same scared voice.

Carl turned a little was about to run from the annoyed hunter, when his shirt rode up a little and what Daryl saw safely tucked into the boy's jeans, made him madder than fire. Didn't the boy know he could've killed himself?

"Carl!" Daryl barked, causing the boy suddenly stop moving and stand perfectly still, staring at him with frightened eyes. "Ya wanna tell me why the hell ya got my gun?"

Carl gasped and looked down at his shirt, groaning in horror as he realized that his shirt was no longer covering the weapon.

"D-Daryl...I-I can explain..." began Carl, holding up his hands.

"Ya damn sight better, hell better yet, ya can explain it to me and yer parents together." said Daryl as he took a firm hold of Carl's arm while taking the gun away from him.

"NO! Please! Don't tell my parents!"

"Sorry kid." said Daryl evenly, without a trace of remorse in his voice.

"B-B-But th-they'll never let me touch a gun again!" cried Carl.

"Good! Guns ain't toys boy!" growled Daryl, as he lead Carl back towards the group's camp.

Daryl saw Glenn first, he quickly asked where Rick and Lori were and Glenn had replied that they were in the farm house, getting ready for the meeting. Daryl grunted in return and proceeded to drag Carl the house. As they reached the front steps, Rick and Lori came out, looking stunned to see a pissed off looking Daryl leading a worried and scared Carl.

"What happened?" Lori demanded accusingly, glaring at Daryl as she took her baby away from Daryl.

Daryl wanted to scream to Lori that she had no right to be accusing him of anything, nor act like he had harmed her son. Daryl turned his eyes to Rick, expecting to see a somewhat similar look on his face as well. Instead Rick merely looking questioningly at him.

"What happened?" Lori asked again.

"What happened, was I found Carl sneakin' back into camp, comin' from outta the woods...with this." said Daryl, holding the gun up.

The looks on the Grimes parents faces was somewhat amusing, Daryl had to admit. Lori looked shocked, scared, angry, and guilty, the last no doubt being from the way she acted towards him. Rick looked absolutely thunderous. The man turned his eyes to his son.

"Explain."

Carl seemed to shrink in on himself and just stared at his feet, his shoulders slumping even more when Lori got her feet to stand beside Rick. The boy chanced a look at his parents looking back down when he saw the looks on their faces.

"M-Mom...Dad... I-I'm sorry...I-"

"I asked for an explanation, not an apology." interrupted Rick firmly.

"W-Well...I...After everything that's happened...I t-thought that m-ma-maybe I-I should get some, you know, practice...at killing Walkers..." Carl whispered.

"You thought what?" said Lori, looking her son with wide eyes.

Daryl just nodded his head quietly. Well that would explain why he was in the woods and with his gun. Rick just glared at his son and firmly commanded.

"Go on."

Carl winced at the tone and scuffed the grass but continued in a quiet voice.

"I-I k-k-kn-knew that I w-would need a gun...and w-when I was looking at Daryl's motorcycle I found his gun in the saddlebag..." ended Carl, not wanting to actually say that he stole the gun, it was easier that way for him, hoping that his parents would just see what he did and then move on from there.

"And?" said Rick, giving Carl no such chance.

"A-And I-I took it-"

"Took it?" snapped Rick.

"S-S-Stole it...I stole it from Daryl and w-w-went into the woods...And that's all." Carl ended quickly.

"Nah, it ain't." said Daryl. Rick and Lori quickly looked to the redneck, who glanced at Carl to see if he would finish fessing up, and when it became clear that the kid wouldn't, Daryl spoke up.

"Kid came outta the woods spooked, like he had seen something. Wouldn't tell me what though. For all I know, there's a herd out there, 'cause Carl wouldn't tell me."

"Carl?" asked Rick, turning back to his son.

"It was just one Walker, i-it was no big deal..." said Carl, but at the sight of his father's face, he quickly expanded on previous words. "I-It was stuck in the mud...I was throwing rocks and stuff at it...It was getting mad...t-then I walked over to it...so that I was real close to it...a-a-and I-I was gonna shoot it! I really was! I was going to shoot it in the head...but I hesitated...a-and i-it got free of the mud...I-I mean I w-wasn't in real danger...but it sorta c-came after me...and I dropped the gun and ran... I waited a while...then went back for the gun...T-Then Daryl caught me and saw the gun...He brought me straight to you..."

"As he should have!" said Lori, giving Daryl an apologetic glance, to which Daryl gave a single nod of his head. "What were you thinking?! You could have died Carl! Eaten! By a Walker! You could have shot yourself!"

"But I need to practice killing them Mom! We're not safe! And we're never going to be! I gotta help protect the camp! It's part of my job!" said Carl raising his voice.

"Watch yer mouth!" said Daryl, at the same time that Rick had said,

"Don't raise your voice to your mother!"

Daryl looked over to Rick, realizing that he had just overstepped the parental boundaries and took a step back to stand behind Rick and Lori as a visual sign of backing out of the matter. He stopped surprised when Rick put a hand on his shoulder signifying that he wanted Daryl to stay, before turning back to the matter at hand.

"I can't even tell you how disappointed I am in you Carl. What made you think that any of you behavior was fine? You want to know what your 'Job' is Carl? It's doing what you're told and obeying us! You don't go into those woods looking for Walkers and you don't go stealing anyone's weapons! You won't be touching any weapon in the near future! I want your knife, Carl." said Rick.

"B-But Dad!"

"Now Carl!" growled Rick. Carl quickly pulled out his knife and handed it over, wincing at disappointed glare that his father was giving him. Rick quickly pocketed the small knife and said. "Also, you aren't to leave camp for any reason and you will remain in your mother's sight at all times."

Carl groaned, knowing that it was as close to being grounded as you could be these days. He could feel tears to prick at his eyes and he quickly became very interested in the grass around his shoes.

"Now we just need to determine what to do about your stealing." stated Rick coldly.

"Aw come on Dad!" Carl whined. "Don't you think that taking my knife away and confining me to camp is enough?"

Daryl snorted at the boy's attempt to lighten his punishments. Personally he thought that the kid was getting off easy, but then Carl almost always did. If he had done something like that at Carl's age, Daryl would have gotten his ass kicked royally by Merle, who had only ever let him take their gun as a kid when they were hunting, and only if Merle had was with him.

"No I don't think it's enough." said Rick. "This is serious Carl! Far more serious than you seem to think that it is

"Mom?" Carl practically begged.

"No, Carl. Not this time. I can't believe you would have done that, Carl. After you little speech about being mature enough to handle a weapon and then you go out and pull this little stunt? And making it worse by taking someone else's gun? I don't even know what to do with you any more." said Lori, shaking her head.

"I think we should Daryl decide." said Rick.

"What?" Daryl just blinked at Rick. The man wanted him to do what?

"It's your gun that Carl stole. I think that it would be fair that you deal with him." said Rick evenly, casting his son a disapproving look. "Whatever punishment you feel is appropriate I'll back. I know what my father would have done with me if I had done something like this."

Daryl just raised his eyebrows and looked at Rick pointedly, who gave a small nod and shrugged his shoulders a little, returning Daryl's look with one of his own that clearly said: _"Yeah, if that's what you feel he deserves, I know that I feel he does."_ Daryl nodded. If he was totally honest with himself, seeing the kid stumbling out of the woods, pale faced, scared, and with a gun that the kid barely knew how to use, had scared the hell out of the man. They couldn't lose another kid. Carl had already had to close a brush with death as it was. No, The kid definitely needed to learn. Daryl nodded again, and cast a look at Lori to see if she approved. At her small nod, Daryl turned to the boy.

"C'mon Carl, let's go have us a chat."

"Go with Daryl, Carl." commanded Rick.

"But Dad-"

"I don't what to hear it Carl. I don't know what's the matter with your attitude today, but I've had enough of it. First you were disrespectful to Carol and instead of apologizing like I told you to, you went out and stole Daryl's gun." said Rick sternly. "Now go with him. You think you're man enough to shoot that gun? Then own up to what you did wrong like a man."

Daryl watched as Carl hung his head in shame, before turning to Daryl with downcast eyes.

"Yall go on. Arrange that meetin' we're s'posed to be havin'. Me and Carl won't be long." said Daryl, as he walked away, not even looking back to see if Carl was following.

Daryl knew that the kid was behind by the small sighs of the grass from the way that Carl was dragging his feet. Daryl knew that the kid had to terrified, he didn't exactly have a reputation for being Mr. Nice Guy, but it's not like he would ever harm the kid. Not that the kid knew that. Right now Carl had to feeling that his Daddy had sent him to the gallows. Daryl had actually been surprised that Rick had trusted him enough to discipline son. Maybe it was because they couldn't afford not to be a cohesive unit? If that was the case then Carl gained about five other Dad's and two other Mom's. Daryl had to smirk. Heaven help the kid. A small sniffle broke through Daryl's thoughts and he turned his head slightly. Carl was the picture image of misery. Daryl couldn't really see the boy's face because of his hat hid most of his face, but from the way his feet dragged the ground and the slumped defeated posture of his shoulders, Daryl could tell he had one scared, remorseful, guilty little kid trailing behind him. Wanting this to be over for the kid as much as Carl did, Daryl only lead the boy to his own camp. Moving aside his crossbow and his arrows that he still needed to finish, Daryl sat down on one of nature's own seating arrangements, before patting the space on the log beside him, motioning for Carl to sit. It took a few minutes of sniffling and fidgeting but Carl finally sat down next to the hunter, keeping his head low and clasping his hands between his knees.

"First off Carl, I want ya to know, I ain't mad at ya, alright? Mad at what ya did, but not at ya. Understand?" After receiving a wordless nod from Carl Daryl continued. "I want ya to think 'bout something, Carl. How'd ya think yer mama would feel if she had lost ya today?"

"I wasn't really in any danger..."

"Yeah, ya were Carl. Said so yerself. Said it broke free of the mud and came after ya. That sounds pretty dangerous to me, it sounds one step away from Walker chow. And what do you think that would'a done to yer mama? To yer Dad? To the rest of us? We've already lost one child, we 'bout lost ya too. Came to close to dying from a bullet and that 'bout destroyed your parents. They wouldn't make it if they lost ya. _We_ wouldn't make it if we lost ya."

"I didn't think about that..."

"Ya didn't think much at all." said Daryl. "What if ya had had an accident and ya got shot? Ya said that when the Walker came after ya that ya dropped the gun. What'd have happened if it had gone off? What if ya had been hit? Ya'd been hurt and wouldn't have been able to get away from the Walker." Daryl lectured.

"But I need to learn to kill them." said Carl stubbornly, though Daryl could tell by the hitch in the kid's voice that his words were getting through to him.

"And your Daddy will decide when yer ready for that."

"I thought that if I bagged a Walker I'd prove that I was ready now..."

"Well sneaking off and stealing weapons ain't no way to prove nothing to nobody. All it proves is that yer an immature little kid that shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a gun." said Daryl sternly, before falling silent for several minutes. "Ya understand what I'm tellin' ya?" Daryl finally demanded, as Carl just sat there silently.

Daryl sighed and got up from the log and knelt down to eye level in front of Carl. He tipped the kid's hat back and blinked in surprise. There was a reason Carl hadn't spoken, he was silently sobbing, his arms wrapped tightly around his middle. Daryl sighed and scratched the back of his head for a minute before falling backwards, landing gracelessly on his ass, as Carl launched himself into the man's arms, crying into Daryl's shoulder.

"I-I-I'm s-so sor-sorry, Daryl! I-I d-didn't think about any o-of t-t-th-that! I'm sorry!"

Daryl was at a loss of what to do. This was the last thing that he expected Carl to have done. Feeling awkward as hell Daryl wrapped his arms around the crying kid and sat up a little more. Carl's tears only lasted about a minute, before he was hurriedly wiping them away. Looking up at Daryl Carl fidgeted embarrassed. Daryl sighed and stood, pulling Carl up with him. Now for the hard part.

"Can I go back to the house now?" Carl asked quietly.

Daryl could tell that Carl wanted to leave because he was embarrassed for having cried his eyes out already. Daryl sighed again and sat back down, almost wanting to just let the kid go. He might have if he didn't think that Carl need a good reminder to obey.

"Not yet, Buddy. That was just the lecture before the punishment." said Daryl, as he caught ahold of Carl's wrist.

"P-P-P-Punishment?" Carl squeaked.

"Yeah, sorry Buddy, but sometimes words ain't 'nough." said Daryl.

Daryl pulled the boy to his side and then yanked the child over his knees. It took Carl several minutes to realize that he was now laying face down over the archer's lap. Once the realization hit him he immediately tried to buck off the older man's lap, fighting and clawing, trying to kick at Daryl and hitting Daryl's leg with his fists.

"Best stop fightin' me, boy. It ain't gonna help yer situation any."

Daryl sighed as Carl doubled his efforts to break free and get off of the man's lap. Finally having enough with his squirming charge, Daryl threw one of his legs over Carl's effectively stopping him from kicking before he reached around and grabbed both of the kid's wrists, pinning them to the child's back. Once Carl realized that there was no way he could get out of Daryl's hold he tried to plead with the man.

"Please Daryl! You don't have to do this! I understand! I do!"

"I know ya do. This is so ya don't forget it, got it?" said Daryl.

"B-But I-I haven't been s-s-spanked since I was like six!" cried Carl.

"Yeah, yer behavior shows that. Look ya might as well stop fightin' me, this is gonna happen whether ya like it or not." snorted Daryl.

Carl hung his head and whimpered, wondering vaguely just how badly this was going to hurt and wishing he had never got it into his head to try his hand at Walker killing. Daryl saw that the boy had for the most part accepted what was about to happen and quickly wasted no time in gently tugging the kid's jeans down to his knees. Carl wailed in protest and fought his hold for a minute before giving up with a watery sniffle. Daryl decided to leave the kid's underwear up, it would spare some of Carl's dignity and it wouldn't really offer any protection from the spanking. Resting his hand on Carl's bottom, Daryl spared Carl for only a minute, before he brought his hand down against the unprotected backside over his knee. He hadn't used but a fraction of his full strength but if the way that Carl suddenly sucked his breath in sharply before letting out a despairing wail, it had hurt plenty. Bringing his hand down again, Daryl struck the boy's other cheek before falling into a steady stinging rhythm. Daryl made sure to cover every inch of the kids bottom in hard stinging swats, working evenly from left to right and from top to bottom, before repeating the cycle. By the third volley of spanks Carl was a sobbing mess, who was spluttering incoherent pleas and apologies. Feeling that it was about time to wrap this up, Daryl tipped Carl forward so that his sit spots were more accessible. Carl cried and screamed and tried to kick out from the pain but Daryl held him still lecturing the boy as he spanked.

"Are ya ever gonna do something like this again?"

"NOOOO!"

"Good, 'cause no one cares for yer attitudes. And no one's gonna be puttin' up with 'em again, got it?" Carl nodded his head furiously. "If I find ya doing something so recklessly stupid again, ya'll find sittin' a distant memory. We ain't gonna lose ya Carl! Ya got that?"

"YES!"

"Are **SMACK** ya **SMACK** gonna **SMACK** pull **SMACK** a **SMACK** stunt **SMACK** like **SMACK** this **SMACK** again?" Daryl asked, punctuating each word with a solid spank.

"NOOO! I w-won't! Please Daryl!" sobbed Carl.

"Ya **SMACK** gonna **SMACK** hunt **SMACK** Walkers **SMACK** anymore?"

"NEVER!"

"Ya **SMACK** gonna **SMACK** steal **SMACK** other **SMACK** people's **SMACK** guns?"

"Nooo Daryl! I'll be g-g-good! Please! I-I-I'm sorry!"

"Good." said Daryl quietly, ending the boy's punishment immediately.

Daryl let the boy lay over his lap and cry for a few minutes to catch his breath, before he gently pulled Carl up and positioned him so that he was sitting relatively comfortably his head resting on the man's shoulder. Daryl patted Carl's head a few times and gently whispered.

"It's okay Buddy. Shhh, it's good now. It's all over. Shhh." Carl soaked up the comfort and buried his face deeper into Daryl's shoulder. The two of them sat there for several minutes, the sound of Carl's crying tapering off to the occasional sniffle. "Ya alright now?" Daryl asked looking down at the little boy in his arms.

"No. You spanked me too hard!" whined Carl.

"Ya deserved it, and don't even try to tell me ya didn't." said Daryl, sternly.

"I'm really sorry Daryl." said Carl, looking ashamed again.

"Hey it's over now. You and me, we're good. It's yer parents ya should be tellin' that to." answered Daryl, as he stood up, pulling Carl up with him.

"And I will." said Carl.

"And yer gonna apologize to Carol like yer Daddy told ya to. I don't know what went down between ya and Carol, but I find that ya been treatin' anyone with disrespect again ya'll have me to deal with. Got it?"

"Yes Sir." said Carl, as he suddenly threw his arms around Daryl's middle and buried his face in the man's shirt.

Daryl wasn't sure if it was the 'Sir' or the hug that had caught him off guard. Or maybe it was the warm feeling in his chest that had really caught him off guard, Daryl didn't really know and he found that he didn't really care. He returned the hug before giving Carl a comforting pat to the head and a small swat to his rear, sending the boy in the direction of the house saying quietly.

"Best git goin', 'fore they think I murdered ya."

Carl nodded and started to make his way towards the house. Daryl couldn't help the snort of laughter at the sight of the way that Carl was gingerly walking. Bending down Daryl picked up the kid's hat from the ground, which had fallen off sometime during his spanking. Deciding to have one last little bit of fun with the kid, Daryl crossed his arms and glared at the back of the boy's head.

"Carl!" Daryl barked out harshly. Carl jumped and turned around quickly looking at Dayrl with wide frightened eyes, his hands flying behind him to protect his backside from further harm. Daryl couldn't help it, he quickly cracked a small and laughed at the boy, who scowled at the man for tricking him. "Ya forgot this." said Daryl with a smile.

Carl stomped back over to Daryl and snatched the hat from the man's hand before jamming it onto his head with a scowl. Daryl matched the kid's glare for a minute before they both gave up and laughed. Carl took off as fast as his injured backside would allow and Daryl smiled to himself.

Nah, they weren't going to lose Carl. He was going to be just fine.

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 **A/N: I have always felt that Daryl has been more of a father to Carl than Rick has. Sorry if this offends anyone. Please review, and I hope that you enjoyed! :)**


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